Flowers
by Sunkissed Gurl
Summary: Where are these flowers coming from and why?


-_**FLOWERS**_-

It was early Monday morning and Charlotte King just arrived at her office. She put down her purse and noticed there was a single pink rose waiting on her desk. She picked up the flower and held it up to her nose. "Aaahhh" She took in the sweet scent of the flower. She thought it was odd to find one single rose without a note. Cooper wasn't at work yet so she didn't know how he could have left it. Maybe it was Sheldon. She knew he wasn't happy about her engagement to Cooper. She went about her work but her eyes kept gazing back to the beautiful single pink rose.

Cooper came into her office when he arrived at work. He had on a bright smile. "How's your morning going so far wifey?"

"Good. Wanna get some coffee together?" Charlotte kisses him hello on the lips.

"I missed you last night." Cooper nuzzles in nose to nose. "You really need to move back in with me. We're getting married in a few months."

" You better not kick me out again this time after I move all my stuff in." She swats him on the behind. He flinches and spies the flower but doesn't say anything.

After coffee they both return to their offices and Charlotte finds another rose on her desk. This one is white. Who keeps leaving me these flowers? She thinks. She decides to pay Sheldon a visit in his office.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Sheldon looks up from his chart.

"Do you know anything about this?" She holds up the white rose to show him.

"It's a rose, a flower of romance, often exchanged between lovers…"

"I know it's a rose but do you know how it got on my desk?" She shakes her head at him, honestly, really, she knows what a rose is. Is he for real? She thinks.

"I didn't send it. Probably Cooper."

"Why would Cooper do that? He sends roses all the time to the house and with a card. This was just lying on my desk."

"Strange." Sheldon's thinking. Before Charlotte turns to leave Sheldon stops her "So are you really going to marry him?"

"I am. You're looking at the future Mrs. Cooper Freedman." She holds out her hand showing off her ring.

"You look happy."

"I am. Very happy."

"Then I'm happy for you. I'm glad the two of you were able to sort everything out." Sheldon hits his hand down on his desk.

"I was wrong not to tell him about my marriage." She steps back into the office " I'm not going to lose him again."

"Good for you. So you told him about everything?"

"I did. He knows the whole gory story and he still loves me." Charlotte shake her head swinging her hair back so it's out of her face.

"Care to tell me the whole gory story?" Sheldon taps his pen on the table. "I'm a good listener."

"It took me almost losing Cooper to tell him. I think that's enough progress. Besides it's gory, believe me you don't wanna know."

"Well, okay but if you ever feel like talking about it. You know where to find me."

"Sheldon" Charlotte turns around as she walks out of his office. "Thank you for pushing me back to Cooper."

Sheldon clears his throat. "You love him. He's what you really want. He makes you happy although I don't always understand .….."

"Because he loves me" Charlotte walks towards his desk and sits in the chair. "He loved me and gave me the time of day when no one else did. I fought him at first. I tried to push him away and not fall in love with him but he was persistent, he loved me anyway."

"Why did you fight him in the beginning?" Sheldon leans back in his chair.

"I didn't want to be loved. I was scared to fall in love again; to have it all and then to lose it." Charlotte's zones out while speaking.

Sheldon twists his pen, "How did you lose your first love?" He asks gently.

Charlotte sighs loudly. "He was cheating on me. Shock of my life! I thought it was forever. How could the man I love betray our marriage vows like that?"

"Hmm..Hmm…." Sheldon twirls his pen and leans further back in the chair. "How did you find out about the cheating?"

"A friend told me. I confronted him and he admitted it. I left him the next day"

"That must have been stressful" Sheldon continues to twirl the pen and catches Charlotte's eyes with it.

"Very stressful! Figured he wasn't the man I loved and married, the man I married wouldn't betray me like that. I took off, moved in with a friend. I filed for divorce and full custody…"

"What do you mean custody? Were there children involved?"

"There were. The only time I saw him after I left is when we were exchanging the kids. I could barely look at him. We'd meet at a McDonalds to exchange them on the weekends. That's the last time I saw them; at McDonald's." Charlotte zoning out staring at Sheldon's pen without blinking.

"What do you mean that's the last time you saw them. Did he run off with them?"

"I don't know. I thought so at first. I called the police when he didn't show up at McDonald's Sunday night to exchange them. He didn't answer my calls. We filed it as a kidnapping at first but one week later they found his car at the bottom of the river."

"He drove into the river?" Sheldon drops his pen and leans down to pick it up.

"I don't know. They never recovered the bodies."

"Do you think he staged it to keep the kids?" Sheldon puts his pen behind his ear.

"I want to believe that because that would mean they're still alive, but I can't believe he would be so cruel to do that. The man I knew wouldn't do something like that. but I also thought that man would never cheat on me and he did. So I don't know." She shakes her head.

Sheldon clears his throat again. "Now I understand why you have trouble talking about it. It's a tragedy. I never knew you went through such an ordeal." Sheldon pulls his pen back from behind his ear.

"After that happened, I moved here to get away from it all. I didn't care about making friends. I didn't care about love. I wanted to live my life without feeling anything. But Cooper; he was persistent and when I fell in love with him I fell hard. I owe everything to Cooper, if it wasn't for him I'd still be a living in an empty shell."

"Well, I'm glad Cooper makes you happy. You deserve to be happy again"

"I know I do." Charlotte gets up to leave "Sheldon thanks for lending me your ear ."

"Of course." He puts his lips together and forms a smile for her as she walks out.

She arrives back at her office and now there is a yellow rose on her desk? What the heck is this? She storms into Cooper's office. "Do you know where these flowers are coming from? Is it you?"

"I left them for you because I didn't know what else to do" Cooper looks guilty.

"To do about what?" Charlotte puts her hands on her hips.

"You told me you lost three small children a long time ago. I left a flower from each of them. You should never forget them."

Charlotte looks at him stunned.

"I didn't mean to upset you Charlotte but you should remember them and think about them and talk about them. I thought this would be a good way to start."

"By sending me flowers?" Her voice is just above a whisper.

"The flowers are from them to their mother." Cooper has tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry Charlotte. I helped Evan's dad keep him from his mother. Somebody may be helping your ex keep your kids from you and that kills me inside."

"Or they could have drowned and been pulled away with the current in the river." She tells him. "That's what law enforcement seemed to think."

"I know you hired a private investigator when it happened but maybe we should hire another one to see if they could find them. Maybe after all these years he's let his guard down and we'll find them."

"I can't go through it again Coop. I hired detectives, my parents hired detectives. Every one of them came up empty. I can't go through that agony again of having my hopes dashed."

"Okay but if you ever want to I'll be there for you this time. I'm never leaving your side." Cooper grabs his jacket off of the back of his chair. '"Are you ready to go home?"

"One minute I have to get something."

Charlotte comes back from her office holding the three flowers one pink, one white and one yellow. "Thank you for the flowers Cooper. I love them."

"What do you say we go home and let nature take it's course, maybe we'll acquire some flowers of our own in the process."

"I'd like that!" She puts her left arm around him while clutching her three roses in the right hand."


End file.
